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The first—and perhaps most important—answer is: you can. Parents can do a lot to help their teens become safe drivers. You can, for example:

Model safe driving behavior.

Enroll your child in driver’s education.

Make rules for your child—and consequences for breaking those rules.

It can be difficult to parent a teen who is on the cusp of adulthood; however, you are still the parent, you are still your child’s primary teacher, and you are still your child’s most important role model.

But Others May Help You With This Important Task

A new study by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) found that teen drivers may benefit when more adults are involved in helping teens make smart and safe driving decisions. Specifically, according to the study, some of the other adults who may help your teen stay safe include:

Teachers.

Employers.

Coaches.

Activity directors.

Professional drivers.

Doctors.

Each of these adults has a unique perspective on driving or injuries that can significantly influence a teen and that will, hopefully, prevent a teen from making a dangerous and potentially deadly mistake behind the wheel.

Additionally, it is important not to underestimate the role of some other important adults in your teenager’s life such as the parents of his friends, his grandparents, his older siblings, and other relatives.

It is up to us, as a community, to help keep our teen drivers safe. Please share this article on Facebook or Twitter. Your friends and followers likely have teens they know whom they can help keep safe if they are encouraged to do so.

You can’t submit a bill and ask the insurance company for reimbursement. Your pain and suffering are not economic damages. Yet it is possible to put a dollar figure on them and to demand fair and just compensation in an auto accident settlement or in court.

How to Value Pain and Suffering After a Car Crash

As with any type of damage suffered in a car accident, the insurance company is going to want to pay you as little as possible for your recovery. That is how the insurance company maximizes its profits, but it could have a devastating impact on your recovery unless you advocate for the damages that you deserve.

Your fight for fair damages will begin with proving the extent of your pain and suffering. You will need to prove the value of your pain and suffering, which could include things like:

Physical pain.

Worry.

Inconvenience.

Missing out on fun events or special family events.

Insomnia.

Loss of enjoyment of life.

These things are unique and depend on your specific physical injuries, your emotional reaction to those injuries, and the regular activities of your life. Your doctors, your counselors, your relatives and others can help the insurance company or court understand just how bad your pain is and the extent of your suffering, and your lawyer can advocate for your full and fair recovery of these important non-economic damages.

Your out-of-pocket costs may not add up as much as your medical expenses or lost income do, but they are still significant losses that can have a substantial impact on your finances after a car accident.

You May be Able to Recover for These Costs

Your injury has made the things that you used to do painful or impossible to do independently. Depending on your specific injuries and daily activities, you may need help with:

Childcare.

Transportation.

Cleaning help.

Personal assistance with things such as showering and personal grooming.

Insurance deductibles.

Additionally, the damage to your car and any other property damage that you suffered could be compensable in insurance settlement negotiations or in court.

Helpful Hints for Protecting Your Recovery

In order to recover for your out-of-pocket costs after a car accident, you are going to have to ask for damages. You should not expect that the insurance company is going to automatically include them in a settlement unless you ask for them. Similarly, they will not be included in a court verdict unless you prove your loss. You can help protect your recovery of these damages by:

Keeping receipts of all of your expenses.

Hiring an expert witness to make a connection between your injury and these expenses. This will be especially important if you are claiming future out-of-pocket costs.

Additionally, you can contact an experienced car accident attorney who knows what damages you may be entitled to and how to advocate for your fair recovery. If you would like to speak with a lawyer, please contact us directly via this website.

A car accident injury can impact your ability to earn an income in many ways. Your injury could, for example keep you from:

Working at all.

Working the same job that you had prior to the accident.

Working the same number of hours that you did prior the accident.

Earning an income as a self-employed person.

Any of these situations can be financially devastating. You may not have enough money to pay your regular monthly bills at a time when your medical expenses and out-of-pocket costs are adding up because of your injury.

Keep Careful Documentation to Make a Full Recovery for Lost Income

In order to make the full recovery you deserve, you will need supporting documentation to support your claim. Specifically, you may need:

Copies of your tax returns and pay stubs. This will help you prove the amount of income that you earned prior to the accident, the cost of your benefits, and the frequency of your raises and bonuses.

A letter or testimony from your employer. This will help establish how many hours you’ve worked since the accident, what your job duties are, and why you can’t get back to your regular job.

Testimony from a doctor, economist, and expert in your field. These experts can help establish how your injury is likely to impact your job in the future and how that will affect you financially.

As a Wisconsin driver, you should have medical payments coverage in your auto insurance policy, which you can use to pay for your medical expenses after you have suffered injuries in a car accident. Unfortunately, this coverage may not be enough to pay for all of your medical expenses.

Your private health insurance or government health insurance may also be used to pay for your medical needs. However, this coverage too can fall short of compensating you for everything. For example, you may be stuck with copayments or deductibles, and the insurance company may not cover all of the medical care from which you might benefit.

There’s Another Way

If someone else’s negligence led to your Milwaukee car accident and injuries, you might also be able to hold them accountable. You could be entitled to compensation for current and future medical expenses, including things such as:

Ambulance rides.

Emergency room visits.

Hospital stays.

Surgeries.

Doctors’ office visits.

Medications.

Rehabilitation therapies, including physical therapy.

Assistive medical devices, including wheelchairs.

Other healthcare needs.

You may be able to recover any of these medical costs that are related to the injuries you suffered in the accident. For expenses you’ve already incurred, you may be able to submit a bill. However, for costs that are likely to occur but have not yet happened, you may need a doctor’s testimony to establish the value of your future medical expenses.

Recovering the damages that you deserve for medical expenses can be complicated. It is certainly more complicated than simply submitting bills and asking for reimbursement. Accordingly, it is important to have an experienced car accident lawyer working for you and fighting for your fair recovery. If you would like to schedule a free meeting with an attorney, please call us directly at 1-800-800-5678.

You likely have two concerns when you are looking to buy your teenager a car or advise your teen about which car he or she should purchase. You are likely worried about the safety of the car and its price. You need a car that is both affordable and safe, but with so many safety options out there, how can you know what is necessary to protect your child and what would simply be nice to have?

In October 2015, the IIHS came out with a new list of specific vehicles that parents and teens should consider. Additionally, the IIHS identified the safety features that it feels are most important. Those features include:

Bigger and heavier cars. No minicars or small cars were included on the IIHS list.

Electronic stability. This helps drivers maintain control if a road is curvy or slippery. It has been mandatory on vehicles since 2012, but was included in some vehicles prior to that model year.

Avoiding high horsepower engines. Teens simply don’t need them, and some teens may be tempted to see just how fast a vehicle with a powerful engine may go.

Other things not mentioned in the IIHS list, such as back-up cameras, may also be important.

Please share this article on Facebook or directly with other parents of teens so that everyone has the information that they need to make safe car purchases that could protect their children in an accident.

You might get a call from an insurance adjuster soon after your car crash. Some may consider that the beginning of a car accident settlement, since anything that you say to the insurer may influence your eventual recovery, but that is not how the formal car accident insurance settlement process starts.

Instead, the Process Starts With a Demand Letter

The insurance company doesn’t have to provide you with any money unless you ask for it. Thus, formal car accident insurance settlement negotiations begin when you or your attorney sends a demand letter to the insurance company requesting a settlement for your accident injuries. The demand letter should be well drafted and persuasive. It should include…

Details about the accident, including why the other driver is liable for the accident and your injuries.

The specific injuries you have suffered.

The specific damages that you are seeking as compensation for your injuries.

The demand letter may be accompanied by supporting documentation.

You should expect to receive a written response to your letter after the insurance company has had time to receive it and consider it. Negotiations will then occur until a settlement is reached or your case goes to court.

Mistakes to Avoid Before Sending a Demand Letter

While the demand letter may begin the official settlement negotiations, things that happen prior to the demand letter could be relevant to your ultimate recovery. Accordingly, it is important to be cautious about talking to insurance adjusters, about putting information on social media, and about foregoing medical treatment, because these things could later hurt your settlement.

If you have additional questions about how to settle your own car accident case with an insurance company, then we encourage you to start a live chat with us now.

If you were injured in a car accident that was primarily or solely caused by someone else and you are a legally competent adult, then you have the right to bring a lawsuit.

However, it isn’t just injured adults who can bring lawsuits. There are other situations where you may be able to protect your loved one’s rights by filing a lawsuit on their behalf in a Wisconsin court. Specifically, you may be able to protect your loved one’s rights by filing a lawsuit if:

You are the parent or legal guardian of a child. If you have legal custody of a child under age 18, then you may be able to pursue a lawsuit on behalf of your child to get your child fair and just compensation for her injuries.

Your loved one died in the accident and you are the executor of your loved one’s estate. If you have been named as the executor in your loved one’s will or the court appoints you as executor of the estate, then you may be able to file a claim on behalf of the estate. The damages would belong to the estate and be distributed accordingly.

The legal right to bring a lawsuit is known as standing. If you don’t have standing and you file a lawsuit, then you should expect that the defense will argue that you lack legal standing and that the car accident case should be dismissed. To avoid this and to protect your recovery or the recovery of your loved one, please contact us directly at 1-800-800-5678.

Every state—including Wisconsin—has a statute of limitations for personal injury cases. While the time to file a court case varies from state to state, the intention behind the statute of limitations is the same. The statute of limitations—or the time by which you must file a claim in court—is limited so that the defendants don’t need to live forever with the uncertainty of a claim, so that cases can be decided when evidence is more readily available, and so that injured parties can get the damages they deserve.

The Time Limits in Wisconsin

In most cases, the statute of limitations for a car accident in Wisconsin is three years. That means you have three years to file your complaint in court. If you fail to do so then you may still file a complaint, but the defense can argue that you did so after the statute of limitations expired and, assuming the defense’s argument is true, you will be denied damages. To avoid this, you should file your complaint before the statute of limitations expires.

Three Years Is Only the General Rule

There are times when you have less time or more time to file a case. For example:

The statute of limitations is shorter if your claim is against a governmental entity. In these cases you may have just 120 days to provide the city or county or 180 days to provide the state with notice of your claim.

The statute of limitations is longer if you were a minor or mentally incompetent at the time of the accident. If you were under age 18 or mentally incompetent then the statute of limitations is extended. Typically, you have two years from your 18th birthday to file a claim if you were a minor at the time of the crash and no one took action on your behalf. Similarly, the statute of limitations may be extended to five years if you were mentally incompetent at the time of the crash.

To make sure that your case is filed before the statute of limitation expires, please contact us via this website or at 1-800-800-5678 as soon as possible after your accident occurs and well before the statute of limitations is set to expire.

There are many factors to consider when deciding which car accident lawyer should represent you in a personal injury claim. However, before you decide which lawyer to hire, or to consult with, it is important to know that an attorney who charges for an initial consultation is not necessarily in higher demand nor is he necessarily a better lawyer than an attorney who offers a free consultation.

Our attorneys, for example, have more than 170 years of combined legal experience. We have recovered millions of dollars for car accident victims and other personal injury victims. Our time is valuable, but we believe in offering free consultations because:

We want our clients to make informed decisions. We believe that every car accident victim deserves to know about his or her rights without paying for that information. At our initial consultations, we will provide our clients with valuable information about their rights, about how the law applies to their case, and about their potential recoveries.

We want our clients to be confident in the decisions they are making. You should not feel an obligation to hire a specific lawyer after an initial consultation simply because you paid the attorney for his or her time. Instead, you should hire a lawyer because you feel confident that the attorney will represent your best interests and work hard to get you the recovery that you deserve.

We believe that every accident victim should be able to learn about his or her rights for free. Accordingly, we encourage you to get a FREE copy of our book, The Ultimate Guide for Car Accident Victims, and to call us directly at 800-800-5678 if you would like to schedule a free consultation.